PTIC Los Angeles

To promote, support, and strengthen the growth and development of the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in all productive sectors of the economy, the Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A hosted a Special Organizational Meeting of the CALABARZON Regional MSME Development Council on 15 March 2018 in Calamba City, Laguna.

“MSMEs are the engine of economic growth. That’s why before going up, they should already be capacitated for them to be globally competitive, resilient, sustainable, and innovative,” said DTI Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Director Jerry T. Clavesillas.

Clavesillas tackled the MSME Development Plan 2017-2022 Framework with business environment, business capacity, and business opportunities as focus areas. The plan serves as the scheme for the convergence of initiatives adopted and implemented by different stakeholders towards the growth and development of the MSME sector in the Philippines.

The framework also takes into consideration global issues and provides cross-cutting strategies such as to expand MSME assistance centers, promote women and youth entrepreneurship,

strengthen the role of the local government units, maximize opportunities in the digital and Internet economy, and promote green growth.

On the other hand, some of the important points discussed during the meeting were: the Resolution to Adapt MSMED Council Resolution No. 04 Series of 2016, “Approving the Organization and Institutionalization of the Regional MSMED Councils,” where the Regional Council is chaired by the DTI Regional Director and Co-Chaired by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Resolution to Adapt MSMED Council Resolution No. 04 Series of 2017,”Approving the Revised Terms of Reference of the Provincial MSMED Council in line with the Republic Act 10644: Go Negosyo Act,” where the Provincial Council Chair is the President of any active MSME organization in the province and co-chaired by the Provincial Government Representative; election of Council Officers and identification of possible Officers and Members; and the schedule for the submission of the 2017-2022 Provincial MSME Development Plan.

The participants in the meeting were the DTI-BSMED, Department of Agriculture 4-A, Provincial Cooperative, Livelihood, and Entrepreneurial Development Office, Development Bank of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, National Economic Development Authority 4-A, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and SB Corporation.

“Through the Regional MSME Development Council, we aim to coordinate and work closely with different agencies and sectors to address the needs of our MSMEs and to help bring them into the economic mainstream,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.♦

The Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A, in partnership with the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau, will conduct a forum on Doing Business in Free Trade Areas: Regional Exporters Coaching Session on February 20, 2018 in Tagaytay City to help CALABARZON companies understand the impact of economic integration on their businesses.

The event is part of DTI-EMB’s Philippine Export Competitiveness Program (PECP) for 2018, as it partners with more DTI regional and provincial offices, Negosyo Centers, local government units and private-sector organizations like the PhilExport and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The forum is divided into two activities. The first part is the learning sessions that will help participants understand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), the markets covered by the FTAs, significance of these markets in terms of size, demographics, income, attractiveness, statistical indicators on the trend and progress for Philippine trade in these markets, tariff classification, and the process of registering to the Client Profile Registration System (CPRS). The speakers will be from the DTI-EMB, Tariff Commission, and Bureau of Customs. The second part is a one-on-one counselling with exporters and potential exporters.

“We want to help CALABARZON exporters and potential exporters to become more competitive by providing them valuable information on productivity, innovation, and updates on export trends. Moreover, we want to help in sustaining the export growth,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.♦

To promote CALABARZON and investments and exports in the region, the Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A will host the CALABARZON Investment Forum and B2B Meetings with the Canada Inbound Mission Delegates on February 17, 2018 in Lucena City.

The forum is part of the program of activities of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto (PCCT) Inbound Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines, which is an offshoot of the Outbound Trade and Business Mission in Canada organized by the DTI 4-A, in cooperation with the Department of Science and Technology CALABARZON, Philippine Coconut Research and Development Foundation Incorporated, and the local government of Alabat through the support of the DTI-Foreign Trade Services Corps Toronto last November 2017.

Among the investment opportunities presented in the said mission was the Philippine makapuno industry and agribusiness investment promotion in the Alabat island. PCCT has expressed serious interest in the program. Thus, they will be visiting the Philippines on February 10-17, 2018 together with other Canadian-based companies such as iAdverTUBE, Canada Business Connections, Blueprint Canada, Accubooks, Montephil, Inc., Boulevard, G&C Logistics, and the Federation of Filipino Canadian Associations of Quebec to pursue and finalize talks about the joint venture project and explore other business and investment opportunities.

The forum aims to encourage more investments and exports in CALABARZON and to promote local products and services to the North American market, especially in the food and non-food sector, business process outsourcing, custom brokerage, education, construction, and real estate business. The program will include discussions on turning Overseas Filipinos (OFs) to Overseas Filipino Investors (OFIs), technologies on makapuno processing, support program for the Alabat Island Economy, and the signing of the memorandum of agreement.

“We, in DTI, want to improve the economic conditions at the grassroot level targeting farmers and MSM enterprises, increase export of coconut products like makapuno not only to Canada but also to other parts of the world, promote organic production of an indigenous food product, and develop as part of a bigger industry development program,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.

Toledo added that they also want to promote Philippine brands in consonance with the 7Ms (mindset change, mastery, mentoring, money, machine, market access, and models of business) of entrepreneurship being advocated by DTI.

The expected attendees will be from the national government agencies, local government units, Chambers of Commerce, micro, small, and medium enterprises, and the CEOs/Managers of Canadian-based companies.♦

The Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A, in partnership with the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau, will conduct a forum on Doing Business in Free Trade Areas: Regional Exporters Coaching Session on February 20, 2018 in Tagaytay City to help CALABARZON companies understand the impact of economic integration on their businesses.

The event is part of DTI-EMB’s Philippine Export Competitiveness Program (PECP) for 2018, as it partners with more DTI regional and provincial offices, Negosyo Centers, local government units and private-sector organizations like the PhilExport and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The forum is divided into two activities. The first part is the learning sessions that will help participants understand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), the markets covered by the FTAs, significance of these markets in terms of size, demographics, income, attractiveness, statistical indicators on the trend and progress for Philippine trade in these markets, tariff classification, and the process of registering to the Client Profile Registration System (CPRS). The speakers will be from the DTI-EMB, Tariff Commission, and Bureau of Customs. The second part is a one-on-one counselling with exporters and potential exporters.

“We want to help CALABARZON exporters and potential exporters to become more competitive by providing them valuable information on productivity, innovation, and updates on export trends. Moreover, we want to help in sustaining the export growth,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.♦

To build disaster-resilient businesses in the region, the Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A will conduct a CALABARZON Business Forum on MSME Development and Disaster Resilience on 28 February 2018 in Tagaytay City on the topic, "Business Continuity Planning towards MSME Development and Disaster Resilient Philippines."

The forum aims to engage micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the CALABARZON region on disaster risk management (DRM) activities. It will present the key findings, issues, and priorities in addressing SME disaster resilience and discuss the roles of key organizations in implementing the SME Resiliency Roadmap. The event is one of the activities identified during the National Business Forum on SME Development and Disaster Resilience held last July 26-27, 2016 in Makati City.

“Together with our partner agencies, we want to provide technical assistance in strengthening resilience to our MSMEs on a demand-driven basis. We want to prepare them for the disaster to minimize the impact of damage when it happens,” said DTI CALABARZON Director Marilou Q. Toledo.

The forum is organized by the DTI Region 4-A, in collaboration with the Office of Civil Defense Region 4-A, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-CALABARZON, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, and Philippine Export Southern Tagalog Association, Inc.

MSMEs, private sector, associations, non-government organizations, financing institutions, national government agencies, and local government units are expected to attend.♦